


Doomed, But Just Enough

by preussisch_blau



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: (i bet you're wondering how i'm gonna make a ship outta this), (who is still also one of jack's actual body doubles), Alternate Universe, Asexual Vaughn (Borderlands), Eventual Relationships, M/M, No Beta We Make Poor Life Choices Like Timothy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sex Work, Sex Worker Timothy Lawrence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29018667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preussisch_blau/pseuds/preussisch_blau
Summary: A Hyperion accountant walks into a Handsome Jack themed brothel and meets a doppelgänger...If it were any other accountant, this would be the set-up for some shameless sex, and not the start of what could be a very bad joke.Vaughn doesn't expect to meet someone he could actually be friends with there. But Tim is funny, likes video games, has an adorable cat, and most importantly does not stan Handsome Jack like seemingly everyone else in Hyperion territory. (It doesn't hurt that Tim seems to think he's genuinely interesting.)Tim doesn't expect to meet someone who's exactly his type at his second job. But Vaughn is genuinely nice, a complete nerd like him, and most importantly is not attracted to Handsome Jack at all. (He just hopes Vaughn will still be his friend when he tells him what hismainjob is.)If something seems too good to be true, there's gotta be a catch somewhere, right?
Relationships: Rhys & Vaughn (Borderlands), Timothy Lawrence/Vaughn
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Doomed, But Just Enough

**Author's Note:**

> title inspiration and cheerleading courtesy of my lovely fiancé @dancesontrains
> 
> Some content warnings: Tim is going to be deliberately vague about the exact nature of his work for a little while. While he does tell Vaughn that he's an actual body double and it's not just a digistruct before a romantic relationship occurs, he still omits that information at first.
> 
> Also Tim uses some anti-sex worker language when referring to the Pleasure Palace.

Rhys had dragged him down to Opportunity at the first chance they got. From what Vaughn had seen of it, it was a surprisingly nice city. Well, maybe it wasn’t too much of a surprise; Opportunity may have been on Pandora, but it was one of Handsome Jack’s pet projects. Vaughn could do without all of the rules, but they didn’t seem too difficult to abide by.

They also weren’t nearly as intolerable as the décor of this place, and Vaughn is sorely tempted to just up and leave as soon as he finishes the drink Rhys had bought him.

He glances up from his ECHO and suppresses a shudder at the portraits of their CEO staring down at him from their gaudy gold frames. Ugh. The only reason he even stepped foot into this business was because Rhys had been nervous, but a fancy looking cocktail and a flirtatious employee later, and Rhys was finally getting to live one of his dreams. Well. As close to that dream as he’d realistically be able to get, given he was a relatively low ranking employee in the Securities Propaganda department.

Vaughn idly feeds the cats in his game, trying to ignore how being here was like a living nightmare for him. Okay, the portraits weren’t so bad - working on Helios, you got used to seeing the terrifying CEO’s likeness everywhere - but what sucked was whenever one of the doubles moved about the room.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that being picked up by a random double had worked very well on Rhys, Vaughn would have wondered why the Pleasure Palace even _had_ a lounge area where the workers could interact with the patrons while still wearing their disguises. He would have thought that seeing multiple doubles in one place would ruin the illusion or something. Not that he was having that problem. No, he was just flinching every time a worker stood up too fast or laughed too loud.

He gulps down the dregs of his cocktail. It was definitely time to leave. He’d send a quick message to Rhys after he got out of here, apologise for not waiting like he promised, but his nerves are about shot. Sure, intellectually he knows none of these men are the violent, unpredictable Handsome Jack, but his instincts were still going haywire.

“Whoa, is that Mr Purrgue?”

Vaughn barely manages to not scream at that voice, right over his shoulder, but he does nearly fall off his chair in his haste to _get away get away Get away!_ from the double.

The double jumps back as well, offering a sheepish grin that seems entirely out of place on Handsome Jack’s face before Vaughn can even begin to recover from that shock.

“Sorry! Sorry, didn’t mean to- forgot about the- yeah.” The double gestures towards his face and throat, before rubbing the back of his neck.

A shaky laugh escapes Vaughn’s mouth, just because all of that seems so incongruous to what he expects when he sees that face and hears that voice. “No problem?”

“Oh, good,” the double grins, sliding into the seat opposite Vaughn.

All Vaughn can think is _Great._ with a side of wondering how to quickly and politely extract himself from this conversation.

“So, seriously, was that Mr Purrgue? I’ve been trying to figure out how to get him for _ages_ , but I don’t know how to unlock that slot.” The double pulls out his own ECHO and opens up Cat Collector as well. He continues speaking, voice easily slipping out of Handsome Jack’s almost mocking tones, and into a slightly higher and flatter one. “And yeah, yeah, I know I could just look it up, but that’s boring.”

“But asking a complete stranger isn’t?” Vaughn asks, raising an eyebrow slowly. 

“Nope,” the double chirps. “For instance, if I just did an ECHO search, I’d have the answer by now. You’re avoiding answering me. Way more entertaining.”

“Ah,” he says flatly. “Well, I was just about to leave, so…”

He swears the double’s face falls just a little, though it’s kind of hard to tell with the digistruct in place.

“Oh. Uh. Yeah, sure, sorry,” the guy says, and now Vaughn really feels bad, because he sounds _disappointed_.

The cynical part of his brain reminds him that this guy is a sex worker, and this is his _job_ , and the man was probably going to try to convince him into having a quick session.

The nice part of his brain - which he should really learn to tune out; the only reason he’s even here is because Rhys begged him to come along, so it’s not like listening to it has done him any favours lately - has him freezing mid-push away from the table. Vaughn groans quietly and sits back down.

“Alright, look, I’m… not interested at all in what you’re selling, but. Yeah, I guess I can show you how to get Mr Purrgue.” It’s not like he has anything else to do.

The double gives him an odd look - crap, did he say that last thought aloud? - but picks his own ECHO back up. “...If you’re sure?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vaughn shrugs. “Come on, let me see your delivery page.”

It doesn’t take him too long at all to figure out why the double hasn’t been able to unlock that particular cat.

“Oh, okay, here’s your problem, Ja- uh, wait, am I supposed to-”

“You can call me Tim,” the double says, failing miserably at hiding his grin. “Unless you _prefer_ -”

“Tim it is!” Vaughn interjects. “Anyways! You don’t have the fireworks decoration.”

Tim blinks at him. “Sorry, what.”

Vaughn feeds one of Tim’s cats out of pure habit as he speaks. “You have to buy the fireworks decoration first. Mr Purrgue loves explosions, remember?”

That earns him a blank look, followed by Tim smacking his own forehead and dragging his hand down his face slowly, melodramatically slumping back in his chair.

“You’re _kidding_ me. Of all the- I just needed a freaking- _Kitten._ Please tell me you aren’t _serious_.”

It’s a little disconcerting how Tim’s voice slips back into his Jack act so easily, but Vaughn brushes it off. The guy’s probably just used to being in character when he has the digistruct up.

“Unfortunately for you, I’m not joking,” he replies. 

Tim groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, no, yep. That. That makes way too much sense. Wow, it’s a good thing I’m pretty.”

Vaughn snorts at that despite himself.

He doesn’t miss the slight smugness in Tim’s answering grin, though that could just be the face he’s wearing.

“Any other questions?” Vaughn asks as he hands Tim back his ECHO.

The ECHO is tucked back into one of Tim’s pockets. He hums a slow and pensive note, head tilted as he looks at Vaughn. “Just one: what’re you even doing here?”

Of all the questions, in all the tones of voice - Tim sounds genuinely curious and not at all mocking - Vaughn can’t quite say he was expecting that one. It’s his turn to groan, though he leans against the table, hiding his face in his hands.

“Is it that obvious…?” he asks, hoping it isn’t.

“That this is, what, the last place you wanna be?” Tim clicks his tongue. “Yep. You’re hiding in a corner and jumping any time one of my coworkers blinks funny. It’s like. Super obvious.”

Vaughn glowers weakly over his fingertips.

He just gets raised eyebrows in response. Otherwise, Tim seems content enough to wait in silence for Vaughn to either answer his question or leave. Which is disconcerting, for obvious reasons that Vaughn is electing to ignore, because Tim seems… decent enough so far.

“Oh!” Tim snaps his fingers, startling Vaughn a little. “And you said you weren’t interested in what I was selling. So. Really makes me wonder.”

“...You’re going to laugh,” Vaughn finally says.

“I’d say the intersection of kink and fear, but...” Tim’s voice trails off, inferring the earlier point that Vaughn is uninterested as opposed to repeating it outright.

“Yeah, no. It’s,” Vaughn trails off as he thinks, “weirder than that.”

Tim drums his fingers against the table. “Lost a bet.”

“I said _weird,_ Tim,” Vaughn reminds him.

“...Kidnapping gone wrong?”

Vaughn blinks at him, trying to figure out if that was actually a serious guess or not. The overly earnest tone to Tim’s voice makes him think it was a joke, but he can’t say for sure.

“Oh, wait, wait. I know. Exposure therapy.”

If _that_ wasn’t a joke, Vaughn will feel bad for dissolving into helpless laughter. The way Tim’s face twitches before he bursts into quiet snickering, though? Yeah, he doesn’t think he needs to feel guilty in the least.

“Okay, no,” Vaughn says, once he regains some scraps of composure, “...My roommate is kind of a massive Handsome Jack fanboy and was getting cold feet about coming here, so I agreed to come with him. It was either that or endure another three months of him wistfully talking about it.”

That doesn’t exactly make Tim pause in his laughter. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Oh, wow. That’s- whew, you weren’t kidding when you said it was weird.” Tim does stop laughing, though, as his expression leans more towards perplexed. “What’s so nerve wracking about coming _here_?”

Vaughn just gives him a flat look, then gestures to Tim’s face, followed by his outfit - an exact replica of Handsome Jack’s current favourite, down to the patched Hyperion sweater - and then the lounge as a whole.

“Okay, but you’re _not_ into the whole,” Tim ends his sentence by mimicking Vaughn’s gestures. “So I get why that would make _you_ nervous, but-”

“You’ve seriously never had a. Er. Client? Be nervous about. Uh.” There is no non-awkward way to finish that sentence, so Vaughn is just going to trail off and try not to be too embarrassed about discussing sex in vague terms with a stranger.

“Oh! Not… no, not really?” Tim shrugs one shoulder. “I’m kind of an expensive date, though, so that might be why. Usually only get experienced clients. Guessing he’s never paid for sex before?”

“...I regret that I know the answer to that, and the answer is no, he hasn’t.” Vaughn makes a face at the thought and reaches for his drink. The glass makes it halfway to his mouth before he remembers he finished it earlier. He puts the glass back down quickly, though he doesn’t quite let go, instead drumming his fingers against the side of it.

Tim is just watching him, and it makes Vaughn nervous. Did he say something wrong? He’s not trying to be a dick. Really, he should just get going.

Which is definitely why he starts talking again.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with it?” he says quickly. “I just… Don’t really want to think about him having sex. Or anyone, actually. Not exactly-”

He gets cut off by Tim, who has an almost inscrutable expression on his face. All he can tell is that Tim doesn’t seem offended, and might even be entertained by how awkward Vaughn is being.

“Got it, got it. This place is _literally_ the last place you wanna be right now, even if it weren’t all Handsome Jack themed.” Tim offers what Vaughn thinks is a reassuring smile. “I kinda can’t leave just yet, otherwise I’d offer to show you around the city, but I can tell you there’s a pretty cool arcade about five blocks east of here. Has all the classics and I’m pretty sure they just got in a new Sunshine Racers machine.”

Vaughn blinks stupidly at Tim. Okay, yes, obviously he’s an actual person with a life outside of pretending to be Handsome Jack for pay, but he really didn’t expect Tim to have any interest in video games. Cat Collector is one thing, but actually going somewhere specifically to play games? Not something he expects from a guy wearing that face.

“Uh. Unless that doesn’t interest you? I kinda just assumed. Because of the. But everyone plays ECHO games. Ah geez.” Tim leans his entire chair back, hands covering his face. “Sorry, lemme try that again?”

It is deeply reassuring to know he isn’t the only extremely awkward person at this table.

“No, you’re fine! That was actually a good suggestion?”

The chair thumps back down onto the ground. Tim spreads his fingers, peeking through them. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Oh. Oh, uh, well… Cool!” Tim drops his hands, then starts patting down his coat. “Where did I… Oh, right, yeah. Here we go.”

He pulls his ECHO back out, movements grandiose, as though he’s revealing some great treasure.

“Lemme get that address for you, kitten.”

Vaughn traces idle patterns in the condensation beaded on his glass. “My name’s Vaughn, by the way.”

Chagrin makes its way across Tim’s face in a quick flinch. “Okay, yeah, okay. Vaughn. Got it. Sorry, should’ve asked.”

“Too used to being in character around here?” Vaughn asks.

Tim glances up from his ECHO, mouth twitching into a tight grimace for just a brief moment. “Something like that, yeah. Anyways, uh, here’s the address.”

He slides the tablet over to Vaughn, who takes out his own ECHO to save the name of the arcade as well as its location. Once he’s done, he hands Tim back his ECHO, putting his own away so he can leave. He looks back up, slipping out of his chair and stalwartly ignoring whatever face Tim makes at seeing how short he is.

“So, uh, thanks for the suggestion. Guess I’ll…” Vaughn turns away and motions vaguely towards the door. “Yeah. It was nice meeting you, Tim.”

“...You sure I can’t buy you another drink?” Tim blurts out.

Vaughn snaps his head around so quickly to look at Tim he swears he just gave himself whiplash.

Tim’s eyes go wide, and Vaughn is pretty sure he has to be blushing under that digistruct, just based on how he squirms down into his chair, clearly embarrassed. “Er. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

It does not help that Vaughn has no idea how to respond to that. He’s ninety percent certain Tim is not trying to seduce him, just based on how chill he was during their entire conversation about why Vaughn was here in the first place. The guy did even say that he’d show Vaughn around if he could leave the brothel right now. Which means he’s probably on shift, which means he should be working, which is why ten percent of Vaughn is arguing that Tim _is_ trying to get him upstairs.

“...Why? I. Uh. Assume you’re supposed to be working. Are you trying to-”

“Yes? I mean, no. I- wait. Back up,” Tim holds his hands up, making a stuttering ‘wait, wait’ motion. “Baaaack up. I _am_ working right now. I don’t have any scheduled clients for another two hours. And I am _not_ trying to get in your pants; you said you weren’t interested. I just…”

That sentence ends in a frustrated groan as Tim looks away. The scowl he levels at the portrait of Handsome Jack that happens to be in the direction he turned is really impressive, but when he turns back towards Vaughn, any anger has bled off, leaving only slight bitterness in its wake. Tim rests his forearms on the table, leaning over them.

“I was just kinda enjoying talking to someone without worrying about, y’know, work.” Tim rolls his eyes on the last word. “None of my friends live around here, so, uh - dunno why I’m telling you this, but you seem nice? - but, I haven’t been called ‘Tim’ since I left Elpis. Only reason anyone else asks is so they can book the right guy, then it’s right back to ‘Jack’. And forget acting like myself. Guess I’m just… kinda lonely?”

Tim shrugs - a tense, jerking motion - and laces his fingers together. A rueful chuckle precedes his next words, which end up spoken more towards the table since he looks down before he speaks.

“Which isn’t really your problem, so. Like I said, forget I asked.”

Vaughn doesn’t know much about Elpis, beyond the fact that living there sounds about a thousand times worse than living on Pandora - which is pretty impressive, since living on Pandora is rife with hazards, but at least there’s an _atmosphere_ here - but even that little is enough to explain why Tim likely took this job. Opportunity is probably one of the safest places on Pandora, and if Vaughn’s coworkers are any metric, there’s no shortage of people who want to fuck Handsome Jack - or someone who looks, sounds, and acts like him - so Tim definitely has job security.

Doesn’t mean that Vaughn can’t totally sympathise with feeling alone and ignored.

Even going to the same college as Rhys, he’d still felt lonely and homesick for what felt like the entirety of his freshman year. It had taken him a while to make any friends, and it seemed like most of them really only tolerated him because they wanted to hang out with Rhys.

And he’s honestly still not sure that most of his friends on Helios aren’t friends with him for that exact same reason. It is kind of telling, when people are quick to rearrange plans if _Rhys_ is the one stuck late at work, but not him. Not unless Rhys insists.

Never mind the whole having to act like someone else deal. Vaughn could say from personal experience - though that was back in junior high, and not anything recent - that pretending to be someone you aren’t is exhausting at best. And that it sucks when people cut ties because you drop the act.

He’d probably lose his mind if he was isolated from everyone and everything he knew, _and_ expected to pretend to be someone else for hours at a stretch, _and_ had to put up with people only spending time with him _because_ he was pretending to be someone else.

So in the interest of lonely nerd solidarity, he sits his ass back down. The arcade will be there when Rhys is done.

Tim glances up at him with open surprise.

“Rhys’ll whine my ears off if he finds out I went to an arcade without him,” Vaughn says, and it’s not entirely a lie. “And knowing my luck, if I go looking for it alone I’ll end up horribly lost, because my sense of direction is _not_ the best.”

“Literally turn left when you walk outside and walk for four and a half blocks, ki- Vaughn, sorry.”

Vaughn levels Tim with his most unimpressed, flattest stare. “Yeah, you lost me at ‘turn left’. That way, right?”

He points to his right using his left hand.

“...Ye- No- That is your right, yes, so the _other_ way.”

“Right.”

“No, lef- wait a minute.”

“Also I don’t know what this was but it was green and pretty good?” Vaughn taps his glass. “And I don’t remember the last time someone other than Rhys offered to buy me a drink.”

Tim’s jaw goes slack, mouth slightly parted as he stares at Vaughn. He pushes himself upright in his chair, looking up and away, a short huff of a laugh escaping him. When he looks back at Vaughn, most of the tension has eased away, replaced by an incredulous smile.

“You don’t have to-”

“Nope,” Vaughn agrees, “But unless someone’s going to yell at you for chatting me up and not getting anywhere, I will take that drink.”

“Well, just twist my arm, shortstack,” Tim acquiesces. “I am gonna need a little more to go on than ‘green and pretty good’, though, ‘cause we’ve got like five green drinks here and none of them taste similar.”

“It tasted kind of like pineapples?” Vaughn offers, squinting at the glass. He tilts it towards him, as though that might help. “And had a cherry garnish. You can have them leave that off, though.”

He’s not a huge fan of cherries, so the one that garnished his first drink is still perched atop the ice.

Tim plucks the cherry off the ice and pops it in his mouth with a wink. “Gotcha. Be right back.”

Vaughn watches him head over to the bar and chat briefly with the bartender. He makes a mental note to tell the guy to not use that last nickname when he gets back with their drinks - Vaughn is willing to tolerate many things, but comments on his height aren’t on that list.

When Tim returns, he looks a bit surprised as he sets another one of those green cocktails down in front of Vaughn. His other hand holds something dark brown and bubbling.

“Thanks,” Vaughn says, picking up his glass.

“Kinda feel like I should be thanking you, cupcake,” Tim replies as he slides back into his chair. “I half expected you to make a run for it as soon as I turned my back.”

Vaughn shrugs. “I said I’d stick around, didn’t I?”

“Well, yeah, but I can be kind of… pushy? Overbearing?” Tim shrugs then takes a sip of his drink, wincing as he swallows. “Y’know, hard to drop the whole Jack act entirely when I’m at work, that kinda thing.”

“As long as you weren’t lying about wanting to chat while I wait for Rhys…” Vaughn trails off, unwilling to admit exactly why he stayed. It’s one thing to hang out with a complete stranger because you can relate to feeling lonely. It’s another thing to actually say that out loud.

“Swear on my father’s grave,” Tim says solemnly, “I wasn’t lying about that.”

Vaughn isn’t sure if he should grin or not. Yeah, he’s glad this isn’t gonna turn into a pick-up session, but. Who just casually mentions that one of their parents is dead like that?

“...Annnnd that just made things awkward,” Tim continues. “So. Uh. I’m guessing you work up on Helios? Accounting, right?”

He almost asks how Tim knew it was accounting, but Tim taps his temple where the stem of a pair of glasses would sit. The glasses are a dead giveaway, he can’t argue with that. “Yeah. It’s not that exciting, though. Unless you like numbers. A lot.”

“...Actually, I kinda suck with numbers,” Tim winces again. “I majored in - get this - _creative writing_.”

Vaughn raises an eyebrow at that one. Maybe he’s just stereotyping, but he wouldn’t have thought someone from _Elpis_ would be that interested in any of the arts… and also Tim isn’t that good with words. He’s clearly been tripping over his own tongue the entire time. Though maybe he’s better at it when he’s not trying to talk.

Doubtful, though, since he works here.

“Yeah, yeah, there’s a reason I work in a whorehouse,” Tim says with a wry grin. “Turns out some degrees are not worth the loans you take to get them. Shoulda gone for technical writing. Boring, but easier to find a job. What about you? Numbers your passion, or did you just have way better sense than me when you went to college?”

“Your opinion of me is about to tank and never recover,” Vaughn replies flatly, “but I actually like accounting.”

“Uh uh uh, sweetheart. _Vaughn._ Fricking hell, sorry, habit at this point. Anyways, as I was about to say, there’s only enough room at this table for _one_ self-deprecating nerd and that’s me.” Tim’s smile widens a bit, showing some teeth. “Seriously, though, I think that’s cool. Must be nice to enjoy your job.”

“...You don’t enjoy yours?” Vaughn asks, wondering if he’s opening a rather large can of worms with the question. He should probably just drink his cocktail and let Tim keep talking instead of trying to contribute to the conversation, actually. Might keep him from asking dumb questions.

“Ehhh,” Tim lolls his head to the side. “Okay, so, this isn’t my _only_ job. Probably the one I like the most, but you should see some of my clients. Nowhere near as fine as y- yeah, anyways, I can turn people down, of course, but I save that for the creepy ones. Otherwise I do shit like protection details. Which means getting shot at. Not a fan of that.”

Vaughn wonders briefly who Tim was about to say his clients weren’t as attractive as, but if Tim didn’t want to say it then he surely won’t answer if asked directly. Instead, he goes for a joking response. “Geez, and here I was about to complain about the finger gun battles up on Helios. My boss is practically a finger sniper.”

That makes Tim laugh, thankfully. “They get that intense?”

“You have no idea.” Vaughn rolls his eyes as he takes a drink. “Last time one broke out in Accounting, we lost a cubicle wall, two calculators, four chairs, and a coffee mug. _With_ coffee in it. Janice had to go to the med wing for a sprained wrist.”

Tim’s laughter cuts off abruptly. “ _No._ ”

He blinks, trying to figure out what part of that warranted so serious a response.

“Not _coffee._ ”

Aha.

“The hell is wrong with your coworkers? You don’t waste coffee!”

“No sacrifices are too great when pride is on the line,” Vaughn says sarcastically. “Or a chance to operate the PowerPoint at the next shareholder’s meeting, apparently.”

“Operate the PowerPoint.”

“Yep. Not even present. Or say anything. Just click to advance to the next slide when the department head signals for it.”

“Do I wanna know why?” Tim looks genuinely confused.

“Handsome Jack is supposed to be there,” Vaughn supplies helpfully.

“Again, I ask, the hell is wrong with your coworkers.”

He can’t help it. Those words, in that context? From _that_ face and voice? Vaughn cracks up.

“What? What’s so fun- Ohhh.” Tim snorts as well as he figures it out. “What can I say? After pretending to be the guy, I sure as shit don’t see the appeal.”

Vaughn leans against the table, trying to get his amusement under control. That comment really wasn’t that hilarious - if Tim hadn’t been wearing a digistruct of Handsome Jack, the most it would have earned was a sensible chuckle. Still, he can now definitely say he likes Tim, even if it’s solely because the man has the first reasonable opinion of Handsome Jack he’s heard since he arrived on Helios. “You and me both. Er. Not that I’ve-”

“Nah, I get you, shortstack. ...Okay, from now on if I use a nickname instead of your actual name, please just. Kick me or something.”

“Sure,” Vaughn agrees, even though he knows he won’t actually kick Tim. 

Before either of them have a chance to say anything else, however, Vaughn notices the door that leads to the main section of the brothel open. Looks like Rhys is done - and very pleased, if the somewhat goofy grin on his face is anything to go by.

“...Ah, that’s Rhys,” Vaughn says, nodding in the direction of the door.

Tim looks over, and Vaughn is just waiting for the inevitable appreciative look that Rhys tends to get, followed by a complete loss of all interest in himself.

Surprisingly, Tim’s gaze doesn’t even linger. “Guess you and stringbean over there are gonna be headed out soon, huh.”

“Uh. Yeah.” Was that ‘stringbean’ derogatory? It definitely didn’t sound like the same tone Tim had used when calling him ‘shortstack’ or ‘kitten’.

“That sucks,” Tim sighs. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a business card and a pen, then writes something down on the back of the card and slides it over to Vaughn. “No pressure, but if you ever just wanna chat or something, hit me up?”

Vaughn cautiously picks the card up, ignoring the printing advertising Tim’s services at the Pleasure Palace on the front to glance at what he’d written on the back. That looked like a personal IM screenname, not a professional one. “Uh. I. Uh.”

“If you want,” Tim repeats firmly, before downing the rest of his drink and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I won’t be offended if you toss that in the nearest trash can, promise.”

“Right,” Vaughn says, tucking the card into his pocket anyways.

It doesn’t look like Rhys has spotted him, considering he’s now headed for the exit, ECHOeye glowing. Probably looking for a message from Vaughn telling him where he went.

“I’d say see you around, but…” Vaughn lets that sentence end with a kind of helpless shrug. He has no intentions of coming back here, and it’s not like he’d recognise Tim if their paths crossed elsewhere. Either he’d have that digistruct up, or he’d be just another face in the crowd.

Tim huffs out a small chuckle. “Yeah, yeah. Get going before stringbean thinks you’ve been kidnapped or something.”

Vaughn nods once, then gets up to head after Rhys.

**Author's Note:**

> So... this idea has been in the works for over a year now. I make no promises about the update schedule. Just that the next chapter is in the works.


End file.
